Stihl 066 help!

[bill chasser]

Well I went out into the woods this weekend with my trusty 066 artic conversion saw to fell some snags on a friends property and my job came to an abrupt halt. Weather was in in the high 20s when I started. Saw had been out of service over the past year. After doing the usual preservice checks and fueling I proceeded to make my face cut when suddenly my leg felt wet. Looking down to see premix spraying me down from the fill hole. I had the saw apart over the summer replacing the fuel line to the carb knowing this wasn't the problem. Shut the eng off to find that the center of the cap (the part with the screw driver slot in it ) laying at my feet antd the remainder of the threads laying inside the tank. After many choice explicatives for being soaked in fuel and no fresh clothing I tried to grab the remains of the cap out of the fuel tank to no avail. Has Anyone experienced this before and did you figure a way to remove the pieces from inside the tank without doing a complete teardown. I'm not looking forward to splitting the cases if I don't have to. Any Ideas?

Bill

[petesoldsaw]

Hello Bill
You may want to try some of the fellas on ArboristSite.com,they have a chainsaw forum that you can post in,but you need to sign up as a member free of charge.Also try Tree World out of Australia they also have a chainsaw forum
Lawrence

[bill chasser]

thanks

Bill

[Mark Schneider]

Bill
If the saw was mine I'd shake out the big pieces, install a new gas cap, refuel it and head for the woods. Since the fuel line has a filter on the end a few odd pieces of plastic floating around won't really bother anything.

[grub54891]

What mark said! Or take one of them grabber tool's and pick out the peices.Shouldn't have to split the case at all.

[treegal1]

you can also grab the large pieces and hold them to the top of the fill spout with forcepts and cut them with nylon string, like cutting pipe.........

[Motormowers]

I usually take a long needle nose pliers and try to break the piece in the tank then use compressed air to clean any debris out. Or hold the piece near the filler and cut it with a narrow side cutters.

[Bruce The Mac Hopf]

The Gas Tank is all one Piece, and you can not split it. Just Fish out what you can, and put in a New Gas Cap, and off to the Woods you go. Or you can give the Fuel Tank a good Flushing, and you will be all set to go. Bruce.

[bill chasser]

Hi everyone

Thanks for your suggestions. I really didn't want to leave the extra pieces floating in the tank as the saw is thirsty enough for fuel as it is and didn't want to loose capacity. I'm going to try grabbing it with forceps and cutting it with a hacksaw blade. Has any one else had a cap come apart like this?. I've owned stihls for nearly 20 years and used them exclusively when felling and in my tree service. Own more than 30 pieces of stihl equipment currently and never had this happen before. Went out and bought 2 dozen gas and oiler caps and replaced every one of them.

Bill

[bill chasser]

I managed to get the remnants of the cap out today. Grabbed onto the cap's umbilical cord and pulled it out off the hole first. With tension on the cord I was then able to stick a pair of needle nose pliers into the cap's slots on the underside and thread it out of the tank. Inserted a new gas cap and also replaced the oil cap for good measure. Problem solved. Thanks for all your suggestions.

Bill

[Andrew Mackey]

Overtightening, and parts fatigue are the main reasons for cap/thread seperation. I have had several Sthils come into the shop with the caps broken as you describe. All owners swore they didn't overtighten the cap. I have also had several saws come in with the cap so tight that I needed a Channel Lock pliers to loosen them. Near as I can figure, engine vibration tightened the caps ! The plastic also gets stressed over time, and gets brittle. As it ages, it weakens, until like yours, POP - it's done! It's a good idea to replace the caps after 3 years time, to avoid the hardening phenomonon.
Andrew

[bill chasser]

HI Andrew

Thanks for your expertise. It was a very cold morning in the Sierra when I went to use this saw. Temps started at 20 f. I know its not like wi, or the dakotas or... but it was cold enough for me to not want to be in it in the first place. The saw was a used one I picked up off of Ebay and it was my only non new purchase. I had been having problems geeting drenched in the past by this saw from the cap unscrewing while operating it. Nothing scarier for me than being in the midst of a back cut with wedges in place and can't finish the fell properly because I have my saw put me in a bad way. I got into the habit of using the t wrench and snugging the cap to insure it stayed put and no doubt this was the beginning of its final days. The extra cold just helped it along. I think your right in changing the caps every few years for safety's sake and I will adopt it as a new part of my preventative maintenence. I have a a few saws with the new designed lever seal caps and don't like them any better. They crack out across the outer flange or they don't seal properly when reinstalled. I find this particularly true on the oilcaps on the ms200 and my pole pruners.

[Andrew Mackey]

Chances are that that cap was giving you a warning on potential failure by loosening up. The joint where the threads meet the flange was probably stretching, thus loosening the cap. Putting the T handle was a temporary fix, but accellerated the problem. Lesson taught - if it loosens, time to replace before it breaks! fuel tank and cap problems have been more noticable lately, I think because of the E-10 fuel that is so common now. My son, who works for a major shop in the area , also has noticed this on sthils brought in for service.
Andrew

[bill chasser]

Yep I agree with your last remarks. The cap was probably failing prior to the wrench fix. I think your right about the caps loosening while operation being a possible precursor to failing. Certainly something to keep in the back of ones mind. And these new fuels have been the bane of everything I own.

Bill